SynthesisEuropean journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging2021
The value of
Synthesis in European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- Enterococcal Infections in Left Ventricular Assist Device Recipients: Two Clinical Cases and Systematic Review.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
- EANM/SNMMI guideline/procedure standard for [European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2025Guideline
- Article
- Article
- Infections in mechanical circulatory support.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Review
- Identifying key CT features and clinical variables for predicting operative management of left ventricular assist device (LVAD) driveline infections.Emergency radiology · 2025Article
- Infections in Patients with Mechanical Circulatory Support.Infectious disease clinics of North America · 2024Review
- Innovations in Imaging:Current cardiology reports · 2024Review
- The Predictive Role of Metabolic Volume Segmentation Compared to Semiquantitative PET Parameters in Diagnosis of LVAD Infection using [Molecular imaging and biology · 2024Article
- Contemporary Role of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) in Endocarditis: A Narrative Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- The Journal of heart and lung transplantation : the official publication of the International Society for Heart Transplantation · 2024Article
- Interplay between driveline infection, vessel wall inflammation, cerebrovascular events and mortality in patients with left ventricular assist device.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Added value of semi-quantitative analysis of [18F]FDG PET/CT for the diagnosis of device-related infections in patients with a left ventricular assist device.European heart journal. Cardiovascular Imaging · 2023Article
- Contemporary Review of Multi-Modality Cardiac Imaging Evaluation of Infective Endocarditis.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Systems of conductive skin for power transfer in clinical applications.European biophysics journal : EBJ · 2022Review
- Recent biomedical advances enabled by HaloTag technology.Biocell : official journal of the Sociedades Latinoamericanas de Microscopia Electronica ... et. al · 2022Article
- Nuclear Imaging in Infective Endocarditis.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Review
- Continuous-flow left ventricular assist device systems infections: current outcomes and management strategies.Annals of cardiothoracic surgery · 2021Review
- Ventricular Assist Device-Specific Infections.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLeft ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are increasingly used for the treatment of advanced heart failure. LVADs improve quality of life and decrease mortality, but the driveline carries substantial risk for major infections. These device-related LVAD and driveline infections are difficult to diagnose with conventional imaging. We reviewed and analysed the current literature on the additive value of MATERIALS/
methodsWe performed a systematic literature review using several databases from their inception until the 31st of December, 2019. Studies investigating the diagnostic performance of FDG-PET/CT in patients with suspected LVAD infection were retrieved. After a bias risk assessment using QUADAS-2, a study-aggregate meta-analysis was performed on a per examination-based analysis.
resultsA total of 10 studies were included in the systematic review, eight of which were also eligible for study-aggregate meta-analysis. For the meta-analysis, a total of 256 FDG-PET/CT scans, examining pump/pocket and/or driveline infection, were acquired in 230 patients. Pooled sensitivity of FDG-PET/CT was 0.95 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.89-0.97) and pooled specificity was 0.91 (95% CI 0.54-0.99) for the diagnosis of device-related infection. For pump/pocket infection, sensitivity and specificity of FDG-PET/CT were 0.97 (95%CI 0.69-1.00) and 0.93 (95%CI 0.64-0.99), respectively. For driveline infection, sensitivity and specificity were 0.96 (95%CI 0.88-0.99) and 0.99 (95%CI 0.13-1.00) respectively. Significant heterogeneity existed across studies for specificity, mostly caused by differences in scan procedures. Predefined criteria for suspicion of LVAD and/or driveline infection were lacking in all included studies.
conclusionsFDG-PET/CT is a valuable tool for assessment of device-related infection in LVAD patients, with high sensitivity and high, albeit variable, specificity. Standardization of FDG-PET/CT procedures and criteria for suspected device-related LVAD infections are needed for consistent reporting of FDG-PET/CT scans.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.